Saturday, February 27, 2016

Every time I visit Florida I make an effort to see at least one new bird species. Lately this is becoming more difficult as the possibilities are diminishing. I was able to pull it off again this year, and although I saw only one new bird, it was a good one.

Short-tailed Hawk

Short-tailed Hawk

Short-tailed Hawk is a small Buteo known mainly from the neotropics (i.e. Central and South America). However, there is a small breeding population in south Florida. It comes in two colour "morphs": dark and light. The bird we saw was obviously a dark morph bird. The dark brown body feathers contrast nicely with the bright yellow legs and cere. In Florida, it has been reported that dark morph birds outnumber the light morphs by a ratio of 3:1.While we were in Florida a Zenaida Dove was found at Long Key State Park; a rarity for North America. This location, being at the approximate mid-point of the Florida Keys, was too remote for us to drive to, so we didn't see it but this dove species holds special significance for me. On my first day of teaching in Jamaica, one of my second form (grade 7) students gave me a pair of live Zenaida Doves as a gift. In Jamaica they are locally known as "Barble Doves". Not knowing what else to do, I released them.